GAMMA Investing LLC Makes New $35,000 Investment in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 62,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,000 after buying an additional 1,286 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 122,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,052,000 after acquiring an additional 1,693 shares in the last quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV grew its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 36,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio grew its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 38,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association grew its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 31,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 2,470 shares in the last quarter. 61.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Valley National Bancorp

In other news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 49,715 shares of Valley National Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.18, for a total transaction of $406,668.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 545,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,460,136.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of Valley National Bancorp stock opened at $7.73 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.78. Valley National Bancorp has a 1 year low of $6.39 and a 1 year high of $11.22. The company has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.09 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.01). Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 7.74%. The business had revenue of $890.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $447.38 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.9 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 51.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VLY. TheStreet cut shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Wedbush decreased their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valley National Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.33.

Valley National Bancorp Profile

Valley National Bancorp operates as the holding company for Valley National Bank that provides various commercial, private banking, retail, insurance, and wealth management financial services products. It operates through Consumer Banking, Commercial Banking, and Treasury and Corporate other segments.